Over the last 18 years that her husband has been a Milwaukee firefighter, Cat Zyniecki has become familiar with the "campfire smell" that came with him bringing his gear home to wash after a fire.

What was even worse was when Zyniecki's husband, Mike, left his gear inside his car and the clothing heated up, and the campfire scent became even stronger.

But it's not just that particular smell that Zyniecki worries about.

Firefighters like Mike Zyniecki and their families face dangers long after extinguishing a fire, according to a 2016 study from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health that showed firefighters had higher rates of certain types of cancer.

The 30,000 firefighters from Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco employed between 1950 and 2009 showed a 9% increase in cancer diagnosis and a 14% increase in cancer deaths above the rest of the U.S. population.

And those risks also affect families who wash their clothes in that same washer and dryer at home.

Concerned for her own family, but also for others like hers, Zyniecki decided to help.

As president of the Auxiliary to the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Local 215 and a clinical nurse specialist, Cat Zyniecki is spearheading an effort to raise money for laundry machines for every Milwaukee firehouse so that the dangerous toxins and chemicals left on clothing and gear after fires are properly decontaminated.

Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Local 215 Auxiliary members pose for a photo at a fundraiser.(Photo11: Contributed)

"My own personal concern was that my husband would be the guy to leave the job early — a job that he loves," Zyniecki said. "These guys all love what they're doing, and we want them to be able to keep doing that job for all of us. This is my own personal way of helping him and his friends be able to do that."

Since the fundraiser took off about four years ago, about half of the 30-or-so firehouses in Milwaukee now have installed washers and dryers, she said.

Preventing the dangers

Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing said it is becoming more and more important to have laundry equipment available to firefighters.

According to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, a nonprofit based in Burbank, Calif., the more a firefighter's body temperature increases, the more toxins are able to be absorbed through their skin. With every 5-degree temperature increase, the rate that carcinogens and toxins can be absorbed increases by as much as 400 percent.

But this issue not only affects the clothing and gear worn while fighting fires, it also affects their "turn out gear," Rohlfing said.

Other clothing can easily be cross-contaminated by chemicals and toxins, Rohlfing said, and it becomes important firefighters don't bring them home to their families and others.

"Traditionally, just like any workplace, you have station gear, you take it home and it gets washed with other clothes," Rohlfing said in an interview earlier this year. "There is a possibility of some cross contamination. It's so important to have that washer and dryer at the station so we can launder everything there."

'Like a fish to water'

When Mike Zyniecki first became a firefighter, he took to the profession like a "fish to water." Immediately, he knew he wished to spend the rest of his life helping others and giving back to the community.

"The bottom line is that I'm making a difference," said Zyniecki, a lieutenant for Milwaukee Engine 21. "They're (people in need) calling me on their worst day, and hopefully I can be at my best and help."

But as a father of three children, Zyniecki said the last thing he would want is his profession affecting their health as well.

"I really don't want to have to bring that stuff back home to my family," he said. "It's an added protection for all of our continued health."

All it takes to make this difference is a regular washing machine — it seems simple.

An expensive endeavor

In theory, purchasing regular washing machines for the firehouses shouldn't cost a great deal. However, what makes the project more expensive is the location of the hook-ups, or the lack of hook-ups, in stations.

Mike Zyniecki does some of the station's laundry. All it takes to decontaminate clothing worn during fires and in the station is a regular washing machine.(Photo11: Samantha West / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

"That's a lot of our fire stations — we don't have the hook-ups," Rohlfing said. "That means we have to bring power, water and a drain. So it's more than just plugging it in and sticking a hose up, sometimes we're talking $15,000 or $20,000 to get that space ready so the washer and dryer can go in."

Because it's such an "expensive endeavor," Rohlfing said it's been a relatively slow process.

"The Women's Auxiliary, they really do a wonderful job and they're raising a little bit at a time," Rohlfing said.

Gone is the mentality that dirty helmets and equipment are some sort of "badge of honor," Cat Zyniecki hopes.

"We want our guys to have longevity," she said. "We've got wives, mothers, daughters, friends, family who want their fighters to come back safely."